Charismatic Catholics?

[tomch]

I was a Baptist, and then last year I became a Catholic. I love my new faith and am trying to witness to my family and friends who are still Baptist.

I recently bought a DVD of Michael Cumbie’s testimony - He came from Baptist to Charismatic and then to Catholic. His testimony is so powerful, but I found myself somewhat lost when he was talking about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. I don’t think such a thing has ever happened to me. I know that there are Charismatic Catholics - anyone want to tell me how to become one?

How does someone receive this gift? As per Luke 11:13, I’ve asked for the Holy Spirit, but nothing seems to change. I still find myself giving in to temptations, and falling flat on my face.

Looking at the apostles… when they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, their lives were amazingly transformed. Can the same thing happen to us?

 

[Pani_Rose]

You might like reading this forum ccc.garg.com/
The Catholic Charismatic Center on the World Wide Web

 

[hope_7]

tomch asked

  How does someone receive this gift? As per Luke 11:13, I've asked for the Holy Spirit, but nothing seems to change. I still find myself giving in to temptations, and falling flat on my face.

Looking at the apostles… when they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, their lives were amazingly transformed. Can the same thing happen to us?

The answer is Yes!!!
The same thing can happen to us.
This gift like salvation has to be recieved by faith. You will know when the Lord baptises you in the Holy Spirit. There is no guessing about this.
The scriptures say that God gives His Spirit to those who obey Him. This is important. I take it that you have read the differant accounts of people recieving the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Acts.

     One thing Jesus said to do was to tarry in the city of Jeruselem untill you be endued with power from on high. Many have recieved the Holy Spirit instantly but for me it was more like this. I sought the Lord for this for awhile before He baptised me in His Spirit. During this time as I was seeking Him, the Lord was preparing me to recieve His Spirit. He was teaching me about prayer and it was also a time where I would put away anything that was displeasing to Him. 


  One day I felt like He wanted me to go to a full gospel buisnessmens meeting. It was a calm service and the one that spoke just happened to be talking about the baptism in the Holy Ghost. At the end of the service he asked those who wanted this to come forward and they would lay hands on them and pray that God would fill them with His Holy Spirit. I went forward and they gathered around me and just asked the Lord to baptise me with His Holy Spirit. 

 I remember one paster in particular who was praying for me. I was hearing him pray and in that moment I recieved the baptism in the Spirit. He came in suddenly!!!   It was so overwhelming and sudden that I lost all consciousness of what was happening all around me. The next thing that I knew was that I heard myself speaking in tongues and I was speaking faster then I have ever talked in my life.I was shy and the Lord was so kind and gental with me. When I left the service I felt like I was walking on air and that my feet were barly touching the ground. 

 I found out that I was brought into a fuller relationship with the Lord then I had before. It seemed that I had a greater love for God and for people then ever before. His word seemed to open up even more then ever before. I couldnt get enough of Him. I even seemed to have greater victory over sin. I have found this to be like a door opening up to the deeper things of the Lord. I do not believe I would have entered into the kind of relationship with Him that I have today had it not been for this. Jesus baptised me in the Holy Spirit in September the second saturday 1975

    The Holy Spirit will always speak of Jesus and will magnify Him to you and through you to others. One has to be born again first. This baptism of the Holy Spirit is for them that already know Him and are liveing in obediance to God and His word.  But, the Lord also has done this at the same time when a person gets saved. I find that this is usally after the time that one has recieved Christ as their saviour, never before.

I feel like I need to clarify a term that I am using because many may not know what I mean by the term being saved or born again. I have been looking for a grace that describes this in the catholic church. Today at mass the priest used a term that may fit this He spoke of a grace of conversion where God forgives ous sins and we actually recieve Jesus into our hearts. He used the example of Zacceaous comming down from the tree and Jesus comming into his house. This is not when a person is going to confession or baptism or when someone goes through confirmation although it can happen at thease times. I am trying to show that there is a differance here so please bear with me.

God,s word says to seek and you shall find. He will answer your prayer. The answer is already yes and amen.

 

[tomch]

Thanks very much for your responses! I’m excited about what the Lord is already doing in my life, and I know that He’s only just beginning.

Is the Gift of the Spirit received through prayer alone, or must it occur with the laying on of hands as in your case? If it is only through the laying on of hands, does the person have to be a priest or pastor? Does he need to be a Charismatic? (See how ignorant I am?)

I’m already striving to live a holy life for God (although not always successfully) - and working on improving my contemplative prayer life.

For several months, I’ve had Luke 11:13 on my computer desktop as a reminder to pray often for the gift of the Spirit. So far… nothing… but I’ll keep praying in faith.

Thanks for your help!

 

[consumedconvert]

For several months, I’ve had Luke 11:13 on my computer desktop as a reminder to pray often for the gift of the Spirit. So far… nothing… but I’ll keep praying in faith.

Hi Tom,

I too am a recent convert from the Baptist faith. As far as charismatic Catholicism goes, however, I can’t help thinking it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and not mine. Now one of my favorite priests is charismatic, and I do not doubt the experiences of charismatics. But when we say we are ‘waiting for the Holy Spirit,’ what do we mean? Surely there’s a risk here that our focus will come away from personal holiness and onto personal emotional experience. I can’t help remembering the example of the Blessed Mother Theresa. She went many years without even feeling God. And my Charismatic priest reminded me that Mother Angelica also has gone years without any emotional direction or stimulation from God, according to her own testimony. So I do not object to the Charismatic movement, no not at all; but I do wonder if we can seek those experiences rather too much.

Pax Christi

 

[hope_7]

Tomch

The answer to your questions is found in Acts. There are cases in which people who didnt have hands laid on them recieced this gift. In Acts 2:1-12 there were 120 people in that group. Acts1:12-14 gives a list of those who were in the upper room when this happened. Later in Acts 10:34-48 we are given another example of this happening without the laying on of hands.

There are examples of this happening with the laying on of hands and prayer Acts 8:5-25 Acts: 19:1-7

        Another example is in Acts 9:10-17 which shows that not only were the apostles used by God in laying on of hands but people who were just followers of Jesus as in the case of Ananias.   There were apostles and disciples that the Lord used. It can be anyone that the Lord chooses to use. You must go the way that He leads you.

Luke 11:9 And I say unto you Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you.

10 For everyone that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

 

[Pani_Rose]

I was rasied Southern Baptist.

I have been Catholic and a ‘charismatic Catholic’ at that, now for 28 years. :extrahappy:

 

[Catherine_Grant]

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[tomch]

I was rasied Southern Baptist.

I have been Catholic and a ‘charismatic Catholic’ at that, now for 28 years. :extrahappy:

How did you become Charismatic? Is your experience similar to hope7’s?

I’ve recently been reading through some of Fr. Thomas Dubay’s books, and am thrilled with the prospect of growing in my prayer to such a level as St. John of the Cross or St. Theresa of Avila. They grew to the point of total union with God. Does this Charismatic experience help along that way, or does it distract from further depth, as consumedconvert mentions? The reason I ask this is because I don’t recall reading about St. John of the Cross or St. Theresa of Avila having Charismatic experiences, but I’m certainly not an expert.

Obviously, the apostles had Charismatic experiences with God (Acts 2), and I believe that they also grew to total union with Him. Maybe the Charismatic experience and “total union” are the same thing?? I dunno…

 

[hope_7]

QUOTE from PANI ROSE
Does this Charismatic experience help along that way, or does it distract from further depth, as consumedconvert mentions.

I believe that it does help along the way. Paul mentions something interesting in 1 Corenthians 14:18 while addressing a problem in the church He says that I speak in tongues more then ye all.

I will tell a little of what the Lord has done in me by praying in tongues, but let me say this first: In the prayer of quiet when waiting before the Lord one brings their thoughts before the Lord and lays them down. This has to be done repeatedly untill we can become still before Him. Its not really a blanking out of ones mind but a turning of it over to God not telling Him to do anything but opening us up to where He is in charge.

    It involves a settling of our desires (what we want), being restless and needing to do something and so it goes. Instead of us telling Him we come to the place that He tells us. The scriptures say be still and know that I am God. .He becomes compleately in charge and we are interacting in a way that is subject to Him.

Tongues although are spoken out loud but can be prayed silently. Tongues also called praying in the spirit in many ways will still us and take us from ourselves. When one prayes in tongues they do not have to think of the words that they are going to say because the Holy Spirit gives the utterance (the words) ,you are only doing the speaking part.

When praying in tongues for long periods of time I found that the Holy Spirit was actually teaching me to pray in ways I had never thought. This would open me up to more of what God wanted to do because in stilling my thoughts he was able to place in me His. Sometimes He would give visions and understanding in His word where I needed it and for others.  There were places when praying in tongues  that we just stopped and I was just waiting in silence before Him. Thease places of silence grew in length and became more precious to me then ever as I learn to surrender myself to Him more and more. This is only part of what He did in bringing me into this life of prayer.

consumedconvert is right when saying about seeking God for experiances in themselves. I can identify with many like st teresa of avila in what they say in their writings although I am at the beginning but we do not seek after the miricals but seek Jesus for just Himself. If we are not careful we can be distracted from just Himself and get out of balence in visions and gifts of the Spirit We need to always stay within the boundries of God,s holy Word.

Tongues is the least of the gifts but is given such great importance in God,s eyes.

St Gertrude prayed a prayer that I pray often


 Do Thou, the Giver of gifts, the Source of all good, without whom nothing is good and nothing is holy,-- do Thou, for Thy glory and the salvation of my soul, grant me grace to know my unworthiness of all Thy gifts, whether great or little, whether exterior or interior, and in all things to have the most perfect confidence in Thy mercy.
     And I add   in Jesus name amen

 

[catechumen08]

Hi, I’m just curious. What do charismatics do that’s different from other “flavors” of Catholics?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Pani_Rose]

How did you become Charismatic? Is your experience similar to hope7’s?

I’ve recently been reading through some of Fr. Thomas Dubay’s books, and am thrilled with the prospect of growing in my prayer to such a level as St. John of the Cross or St. Theresa of Avila. They grew to the point of total union with God. Does this Charismatic experience help along that way, or does it distract from further depth, as consumedconvert mentions? The reason I ask this is because I don’t recall reading about St. John of the Cross or St. Theresa of Avila having Charismatic experiences, but I’m certainly not an expert.

Obviously, the apostles had Charismatic experiences with God (Acts 2), and I believe that they also grew to total union with Him. Maybe the Charismatic experience and “total union” are the same thing?? I dunno…

I grew up full of faith in our Lord, and when I was 18 he let me know that he would always be with me. After that I kind of fell away - actuallly the Air Force and my new husband - were allowed to get in God’s way. But he was always there. I wrote my conversion on CHNI so here is the link for it. chnetwork.org/forums/forum11/2326.html

One really important thing to remember in your journey with Catholics and Orthodox is, as children or at their Baptisim, Confirmation/Chrismation they were annointed and sealed with the Holy Spirit.

The ‘Baptism in the Holy Spirit’ for them then is a stirring into flames all that was given to them by God at that time. There are many good ways to understand what happens, but several of the simplist are:

The marshmellow on the end of a stick, being placed into the fire to roast - it suddenly bursts into flame.

The glass of milk with chocolate syrup in the bottom of the glass. someone has to take a spoon and stir it up before it becomes chocolate milk.

The laying on of hands from someone in the Sacramental Churches is simply a stirring up of what God placed their a long time ago. If someone has been teaching CCD, feeding the poor, visiting nursing homes, they too have been walking in the Charisms of the Holy Spirit.

On another thread on here, I posted what Aquinas thought of this part of our lives in Christ. A very good reading and encouraging…
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=2925258#post2925258

 

[tomch]

Thanks much for the info! I’m looking into it further.

I found a prayer group that meets at a nearby Catholic parish - meets tomorrow night, and I might give it a try.

Also found a “Healing Mass” on November 16 not too far away. I think I’ll check it out.

 

[Pani_Rose]

QUOTE from PANI ROSE
Does this Charismatic experience help along that way, or does it distract from further depth, as consumedconvert mentions.

I can’t find where I asked this? I know it does help, it serves to bring one into a deeper relationship with Christ.

ZE03092610 - 2003-09-26
Permalink: zenit.org/article-8271?l=english
No Need to Fear Charismatic Renewal, Says Papal Household Preacher

Interview With Father Raniero Cantalamessa

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 26, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Baptism in the Spirit makes the Catholic Charismatic Renewal a formidable means willed by God to revitalize Christian life, says the preacher of the Papal Household.

Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa made that point Thursday as a gathering of more than 1,000 delegates of Catholic Charismatic Renewal from 73 countries drew to a close.

The delegates had gathered for a spiritual retreat and to reflect on holiness in light of John Paul II’s apostolic letter “Novo Millennio Ineunte.” Father Cantalamessa was the retreat master.

Taking into account Protestant, evangelical and Pentecostal denominations, and some members of the Orthodox Church, it is estimated that 600 million Christians have had the charismatic experience.

Given his knowledge of the “charismatic” experience, ZENIT interviewed Father Cantalamessa just before the conclusion of the meeting.

Q: There are those in the Church who think that “baptism in the Spirit” is an invention of the charismatics, and that a name has been given to an experience that is not “catalogued” in the Church. Could you explain, from your own experience, what baptism in the Spirit is?

Father Cantalamessa: Baptism in the Spirit is not a human invention; it is a divine invention. It is a renewal of baptism and of the whole of Christian life, of all the sacraments.

For me, it was also a renewal of my religious profession, of my confirmation, and of my priestly ordination. The whole spiritual organism is revived as when wind blows on a flame. Why has the Lord decided to act at this time in such a strong way? We don’t know. It is the grace of a new Pentecost.

It is not about Charismatic Renewal inventing baptism in the Spirit. In fact, many have received baptism in the Spirit without knowing anything about Charismatic Renewal. It is a grace; it depends on the Holy Spirit. It is a coming of the Holy Spirit which is manifested in repentance of sins, in seeing life in a new way, which reveals Jesus as the living Lord – not as a personage of the past – and the Bible becomes a living word. The fact is, this cannot be explained.

There is a revelation with baptism, because the Lord says that whoever believes will be baptized and saved. We received baptism as children and the Church pronounced our act of faith, but the time comes when we must ratify what happened at baptism. This is an occasion to do so, not as a personal effort, but under the action of the Holy Spirit.

One cannot say that hundreds of millions of people are in error. In his book on the Holy Spirit, Yves Congar, that great theologian who did not belong to Charismatic Renewal, said that, in fact, this experience has changed profoundly the lives of many Christians. And it is a fact. It has changed them and initiated paths of holiness.

Q: How do you carry out your ministry as Papal Household preacher given your experience in Charismatic Renewal?

Father Cantalamessa: For me, everything that has happened since 1977 is the fruit of my baptism in the Spirit. I was a university professor. I was dedicated to scientific research in the history of Christian origins. And when I accepted this experience, not without resistance, I then had the call to leave it all and be available for preaching.

My appointment as Papal Household preacher also came after I experienced this “resurrection.” I see it as a great grace. After my religious vocation, Charismatic Renewal has been the most marked grace in my life.

CON’T

 

[Pani_Rose]

Q: From your point of view, do the members of Charismatic Renewal have a specific vocation in the Church?

Father Cantalamessa: Yes and no. Charismatic Renewal, it must be said and repeated, is not an ecclesial movement. It is a current of grace that is meant to transform the Church – preaching, the liturgy, personal prayer, Christian life.

So it is not a spirituality as such. The movements have a spirituality and emphasize a particular aspect, for example, charity. First of all, Charismatic Renewal does not have a founder. No one thinks of attributing a founder to Charismatic Renewal because it is something that started in many places in different ways. And it does not have a spirituality; it is Christian life lived in the Spirit.

However, it can be said that as the people who have lived this experience are, socially, a reality – they are people who do certain gestures, pray in a certain way – then a social reality can be identified whose role is simply to be available so that others can have the same experience, and then disappear.

Cardinal Leo Jozef Suenens, who was the great protector and supporter of Charismatic Renewal in its beginnings, said that the final destiny of Charismatic Renewal might be to disappear when this current of grace has spread throughout the Church.

Q: As you are about to finish preaching a retreat attended by 1,000 Charismatic delegates from all over the world, what message would you like to give believers who do not know the Renewal?

Father Cantalamessa: I want to say to the faithful, to bishops, to priests, not to be afraid. I don’t know why there is fear. Perhaps, in some measure, because this experience began in other Christian confessions, such as Pentecostals and Protestants.

However, the Pope is not afraid. He has spoken of the ecclesial movements, and also of Charismatic Renewal, as signs of a new springtime of the Church, and he often stresses the importance of this. And Paul VI said it was an opportunity for the Church.

There is no need for fear. There are episcopal conferences, for example in Latin America – this is true of Brazil – where the hierarchy has discovered that Charismatic Renewal is not a problem. It is part of the solution to the problem of Catholics who have left the Church because they don’t find in it a living word, a lived Bible, the possibility of expressing the faith in a joyful manner, in a free way, and Charismatic Renewal is a formidable means that the Lord has given the Church so that one can live an experience of the Spirit, Pentecostal, in the Catholic Church, without the need to leave the Church.

Nor should Charismatic Renewal be regarded as an “island” where some emotional people get together. It is not an island. It is a grace meant for all the baptized. The external signs can be different, but in its essence, it is an experience meant for all the baptized.

 

[hope_7]

Sorry Pani Rose that was a quote from Tomch

 

[JKsoren]

I personally have yet to see anything really good come from the charismatic movement, I feel it makes some people feel good about their faith but that it is not really rooted in reason. Others I think have taken to it to such a degree so as to make it almost a parallel Church. Truth be told many Charismatic adherents strongly believe that if you don’t experience the same things they do that you are lacking holiness and grace,and they are mistaken. Many more will say that by even questioning their beliefs in these practices/teachings that you are in fact rejecting the holy spirit and denying holiness and grace. And even more adherents will defend the movement by obscurely saying something about abuse, but do nothing to qualify what exactly abuse is beyond “your supposed to discern the gifts.” But this movement is not about discernment of anything, its about an emotional feeling/high, the same kind you can get at a rave or really amazing concert or political rally…it’s called mass hysteria and it has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. (Elvis and the Beatles made a lot of people pass out too.)

I’m a student as Franciscan University and my wife and I have both attended Charismatic events and have experienced these “gifts” first hand. The “speaking in tongues” we witnessed is absolutely indefensible to anyone willing to really reflect on what they have just experienced. “Tongues” have been in the U.S. a long time, actually among evangelical/pentecostal protestants to be specific. This stuff goes back to the old timey revival days when people were meeting in tents and getting saved by the hundreds, totally changing their lives and being open to Jesus…until they went home that is. To be sure they probably believed their emotional experience to be genuine, but a high is not the same thing as contrition or the habituation of virtue. Many times the gift of “tongues” is simply a parlor trick along with “faith healings” done by less than God minded “pastors” looking to make a buck and a name for themselves…more than once they have been revealed to be frauds.

As for Catholics and “tongues” and the other gifts of the movement, I feel that most people genuinely think they have them or are consistently experiencing them as an almost daily phenomenon. The “tongues” miracle should be something for the aid of the Church for spreading the Gospel, in fact in history and in scripture those who’ve had it used it for such, speaking to people the truth of Jesus Christ in places where the people did not speak their language. But what I’ve experienced is at best described as babel or gibberish which follows absolutely no linguistic pattern and then there is the fact that everyone seems to have this ability, which does not seem to be exercised for any other reason but for the experience of it…it should strike people as very odd that the Holy Spirit would suddenly endow so many people with a gift that does nothing for the Church nor is consistent with what has traditionally been associated with tongues, that is taking the Gospel to people of different tongues.

Back at my home diocese all kinds of people regularly claimed to have these experiences. And it doesn’t seem to matter what their stance was with regard to the Churches teaching, such as with contraception, everyone was still able to participate pretty much at will. In fact if you go to enough of these things, no doubt you will have such an experience too! Laughing in the spirit, being slain in the spirit, crying in the spirit, or of course speaking in tongues, and you will see many others doing the same…why? And why does it matter that they do so? What does it really say about you that you spoke in tongues or laughed in the spirit? I’ll tell you that it has nothing to do with how holy you are or how devoted you are to the Lord! The movement is rife with questionable doctrines, false personal interpretations of scripture, anti-intellectualism, and a spirit of rigorous defensiveness that does little to answer people’s rejections and plenty to show that what they adhere to is not at all rooted in any kind of rational understanding.

Many faithful Catholics dismiss this movement on a kind of live and let live basis, or even as a genuine expression of faith, or par t of a “dynamic orthodoxy”…but I feel that in so far as it is false, it is a dangerous thing for Catholics to get wrapped up in. I’ve said my peace, I hope that I didn’t offend anyone, but I also hope that you ask yourselves if there isn’t some truth in what I’ve said.

 

[Guardian333]

JKSOren,

I am involved in the Charismatic Renewal in the Diocese of Sacramento, but I actually agree with many of the things you have mentioned. I am also involved with a Catholic Apostolate which holds retreats for the Youth since I was a teenager, and it was founded by Catholics involved in the Charismatic Renewal here. Yes, I agree that many place alot of weight on the experiential aspects, and people still go away not really knowing necessary details of their faith (e,g, Catholic Apologetics). However, I feel that I did recieve a lot of good things from our retreat apostolate that was founded by Charismatic Catholics, most especially the fostering of a strong love for God.

Now that I am much older, and I am one of the adult moderators of our retreat apostolate, I am trying to encourage all our youth and leaders to really know their faith well enough to explain and defend it, and not to put too much emphasis in religious feelings that come and go away.

Just to clarify, we receive the Holy Spirit at Baptism, but the gifts of the Holy Spirit are “sealed” upon us Catholics during the Sacrament of Confirmation. You don’t need to be involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement to know about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

For me, I acknowledge that our Catholic faith is very diverse. It would be better to reach out to Catholics that place too much emphasis on feelings by having dialogue in Charity, and to clarify any grey areas.

I myself have second thoughts on the proper interpretation or exegesis of 1 Corinthians 14 with regards to glosolalia or speaking in tongues. I suggest people should buy a Navarre Study BIble on Corinthians and read the commentaries in its whole context with respect to the “gift of tongues”.

The Church has been around since Christ, and the Catholic Charismatic movement has only been around since 1968, which stemmed from Pentacostalism. I prefer to stick by what the Church teaches, and our apostolate is moving more towards Catholic Orthodoxy, but I also do not discredit some of the good that the Charismatic movement does for some in our Catholic faith.

 

[tomch]

Can I run something by you all?

I’ve read a few books (and talked to a few people) about the gift of tongues, and something is bothering me about what the books and people are saying. They are saying that I need to “let loose” of my tongue, and simply start babbling, and that the Spirit will take over at that point. They said that my first “prayer language” will be babbling, but that the Spirit will refine it as time goes on. Okay… I’ve tried this, but I really don’t think this is what the gift of tongues is all about.

The reason I’m having trouble believing this is because I don’t see the Apostles and Mary doing this in the upper room (or in the other stories in Acts). It seems more like the Spirit just overtook them and used their willing (but not babbling) mouths and tongues without their “help.” Seems like their “prayer language” was fully developed - so that foreigners could understand what they were saying.

I really can’t imagine Peter standing up in the midst of the apostles and saying “maybe we would start speaking in tongues if we just let loose of our tongues and started babbling…” I’m not sure that they even had any concept of the gift of tongues at that point!

I went to a Life in the Spirit Seminar a few weeks ago, and the two ladies who prayed with me told me to loosen my tongue and start babbling. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I did what they said, but really don’t think this is how the Spirit would manifest this gift.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Pani_Rose]

Can I run something by you all?

I’ve read a few books (and talked to a few people) about the gift of tongues, and something is bothering me about what the books and people are saying. They are saying that I need to “let loose” of my tongue, and simply start babbling, and that the Spirit will take over at that point. They said that my first “prayer language” will be babbling, but that the Spirit will refine it as time goes on. Okay… I’ve tried this, but I really don’t think this is what the gift of tongues is all about.

The reason I’m having trouble believing this is because I don’t see the Apostles and Mary doing this in the upper room (or in the other stories in Acts). It seems more like the Spirit just overtook them and used their willing (but not babbling) mouths and tongues without their “help.” Seems like their “prayer language” was fully developed - so that foreigners could understand what they were saying.

I really can’t imagine Peter standing up in the midst of the apostles and saying “maybe we would start speaking in tongues if we just let loose of our tongues and started babbling…” I’m not sure that they even had any concept of the gift of tongues at that point!

I went to a Life in the Spirit Seminar a few weeks ago, and the two ladies who prayed with me told me to loosen my tongue and start babbling. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I did what they said, but really don’t think this is how the Spirit would manifest this gift.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I am truly sorry this has happened to you. I think that is a very erounous statement that the two women made.

What I have learned to do during these almost 30 years is ask people to simply pray ABBA or ABBA Father. To me, it is co-operating with the Holy Spirit, allowing him the freedom to come into our hearts and change us as he will. But the Holy Spirit will do nothing without our yes, and our co-operation.

That for me is a huge difference between Catholic Charismatics that are mature and seeking God in everything and many of our Protestant brothers and sisters who are seeking God, but do not have the maturity that the Teaching Authority and Majesterium of the Church brings to us.

Our Father God is a God of order and propriety. He spoke into the darkness and created the light, and brought order out of chaos. Isn’t that what he does in our lives?

Those who I have known all those years, are and have become people that are very devoted to God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, through his Church, his Eucharist, his Word, his Mother, prayer, so on. You know the Holy Spirit dwells within by the fruit that it born forth. So if you are calling out to Abba, then only Abba can answer. I guess through all these years too, I have learned to pray the Our Father as I am praying in tongues for people. So my mental prayer is both, that I am focused on praying the way that Christ has taught us, by the power of Holy Spirit, knowing with certainty that HE will accomplish that which he has brought forth.

Hope this helps. God bless you!